SAN JOSE, Calif., ROCHESTER, N.Y., and HERNDON, Va., -- September 28,1999 -- Eastman Kodak Company and PictureVision, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Kodak, today announced they have selected Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, as the preferred technology supplier to help expand the PhotoNet™. online network to more retailers.
The PhotoNet™ online network will use additional Cisco networking products and services-including routers, hubs, software and consulting services to enable retailers to connect the equipment that Kodak and PictureVision use to transmit, receive and store images on the network. The equipment will interact with all consumer traffic to the PhotoNet™. online websites. Kodak and PictureVision will also work with Cisco to create customized innovative network solutions for retailers.
With the combined strength of the three companies, retailers offering Kodak PhotoNet™. online services will be able to offer consumers even faster, more reliable access to their pictures online. Photo-specialty retailers and minilabs will be able to use the PhotoNet™ Digital System to scan and upload images, over Cisco's equipment, to the Internet. Once uploaded, the images will be readily available to consumers to store, view and share with others. More than 38,000 retailers in the U.S. are part of the PhotoNet™ Network.
"The relationship with Cisco greatly improves the PhotoNet™ network and the services that our photofinishing customers can provide to the growing number of consumers who want to share their pictures on the Internet," said Michael Foss, CEO of PictureVision.
"Arming more retailers with the equipment necessary to provide network services builds on our strategy of creating easy to use options for people to experience digital photography and enhancing the way people interact with their pictures via computers, in-store kiosks like Kodak PictureMakers enabled for PhotoNet™ Online and the Internet."
Further strengthening this agreement is the news that Kodak PhotoNet™ online has been certified as a Cisco Powered Network (CPN). Being a CPN enables Kodak to ensure their customers that Kodak PhotoNet™ online services are deployed over a secure and reliable network operating on Cisco equipment. As an added benefit of joining the CPN program, Kodak, PictureVision and Cisco plan joint marketing and sales activities.
"By teaming with Kodak and PictureVision, Cisco is providing retailers with an improved way to let consumers take advantage of the potential of the Internet for digital imaging ," said Larry Lang, Cisco vice president of service provider marketing. "Moreover, Kodak PhotoNet™ online enables consumers to obtain, share, retrieve and store photographs in a way that they have not had before."
Foss added, "By combining PictureVision's expertise in imaging technology with Cisco's renowned experience in networking, we are creating an infrastructure to handle the rapidly increasing amount of data generated by digital images."
To use Kodak PhotoNet™. online, consumers just check the box on the film-processing envelope. The pictures are scanned and uploaded to a password-protected Website where they stay online for 30 days. Consumers receive a secure code to access the images. After accessing the pictures, they can share them with friends and family, order reprints or photo-specialty items, such as coffee mugs and calendars, or download pictures to their PC.
About Eastman Kodak Company
For additional information about Kodak, visit our web site on the Internet at: http://www.kodak.com.About PictureVision
Based in Herndon, VA, PictureVision, Inc., the pioneer in online photography, is an independently operated, majority owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company. Its core technology provides the foundation for digital photography services such as Kodak PhotoNet™. online, AOL's future "You've Got Pictures(SM)," Sony's ImageStation(SM) on PhotoNet™. as well as leading image editing software programs like Microsoft Picture It!, MGI's PhotoSuite II, Live Pix 2.0 and Adobe PhotoDeluxe. The company provides the imaging industry with turnkey technologies and solutions for profitably increasing sales by leveraging the evolution to digital photography. PictureVision's premier product, Kodak PhotoNet™. online, allows consumers to easily see, share, store and use their photos on their computers simply by having their film developed by any one of thousands of participating retailers of PhotoNet™ Online.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is theworldwide leader in networking for the Internet.For more information visit Cisco PR Contacts
Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the US and certain other countries. Kodak is a trademark of Eastman Kodak Company. PhotoNet™ is a trademark of PictureVision, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
